… and the lesson had finally been learnt!

See the featured image above and below? The Bug‘s graphics people on Thursday morning prepared it for a MGH that day but then a wise old column compiler said: “Let’s not get too cocky; give it a few more days, hey, chaps?”

And what caused this possibly premature ejaculation of pride as self proclaimed journalism educators among his colleagues. This.

That’s right. For about the fourth Wednesday night shift in a row at the SMH some smart bastard put his sub’s thinking cap on and got it right: a story that flowed over from page 3 – the fake front cover at right in the top image – actually came from PAGE THREE!

Not the cover page. Not the front page. Defintely not PAGE ONE! (all shown on the left in our main image)

Admittedly, there was only one yarn that overflowed from that page three but it’s still a 100 per cent correct achievement, right? The craft of sub-editing reigns supreme!

So was our cynical compiler also right in urging caution? Although the subs on a Friday night usually get their folios right whenever there is a Hardly Normal wraparound, was the wait worth it?

Sadly, yes, because our self-proclaimed journalism educators are a bit shattered by the news Saturday morning has delivered to their footpaths. This.

Well spotted, BUGgers! Some sub, probably dreaming of a quick fag break outside even thought they’ve just had one, has decided, while working on a page four overflow that it’s come from the same page. Oh, dear.

So it is with a heavy heart that we have asked our techno nerds to restore to our electronic library these two graphics we had been using for a long, long, long, long time to try to get Herald subs to get their page numbering – one of the basics of the subbing craft – right. In retrospect, it was damn silly to have them deleted in the first place.

Will we have to use them again? What’s your bet, BUGgers?

POSTSCRIPT: As honest as we like to be brutally frank here at The Bug, this page-four kerfuffle was spotted in a country edition of Saturday’s hardcopy SMH. It was corrected for the paper’s online edition overnight. At least someone at the SMH is doing their job.

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